250' of 4/4 power cable, how to split it?

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Matt Vivlamore

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Jan 11, 2011
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I recently picked up a 250' spool of 4 conductor/4 gauge power cable and I'm looking for ways to section it off. I was thinking about 5 sections of 50' or 4 sections in lengths of 25', 50', 75', and 100’.

I'm also concerned about weight as well as it took 2 people to lift the spool into the truck.
 
Re: 250' of 4/4 power cable, how to split it?

My vote is for 2x 100' and 1x 50'. That combo should give you everything you need with minimal CS connectors & a reasonable amount of weight per section. 6 CS connectors are a good amount cheaper than 10. And less points of failure to deal with.

Greg
 
Re: 250' of 4/4 power cable, how to split it?

Do you have an actuall use for the cable or are you just looking to cut it up into useable lengths?
My suggestion would be if you don't have any use for the cable currently, don't cut it until you need it.
Because if your luck is like mine you will cut all 50' pieces then realise you probably should have made a few of them 75'.
With the price of that cable make sure none of it goes to waste!
 
Re: 250' of 4/4 power cable, how to split it?

Vinny D'Agostino said:
Do you have an actuall use for the cable or are you just looking to cut it up into useable lengths?
My suggestion would be if you don't have any use for the cable currently, don't cut it until you need it.
Because if your luck is like mine you will cut all 50' pieces then realise you probably should have made a few of them 75'.
With the price of that cable make sure none of it goes to waste!
Click to expand...

Vinny, I know a 50' chuck will get the most use at the moment with one of the venues I work. But there is a venue where a 100' run is needed. I don't mind mating 2 - 50's together to make a 75' distance between power sources.
 
Re: 250' of 4/4 power cable, how to split it?

Greg Cameron said:
My vote is for 2x 100' and 1x 50'. That combo should give you everything you need with minimal CS connectors & a reasonable amount of weight per section. 6 CS connectors are a good amount cheaper than 10. And less points of failure to deal with.

Greg
Click to expand...

+1

IIRC, For the first 100' feet, you are allowed three interconnections, but after that it's only one per hundred feet. Check the relevant subsection of the NEC 520 if you want to be sure, but too many 50' sections could cause you grief.

Marlow
 
Re: 250' of 4/4 power cable, how to split it?

Tim Weaver said:
I have found that when it comes to power, lengths under 50 feet are hardly ever used. I would make a 100ft and a 50ft and leave the rest until I knew what I needed.
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This is my thought as well. Unless you are making stage power stringers or something, which would be an unusual use for this cable, I see no need for more than that.
 
Re: 250' of 4/4 power cable, how to split it?

Tim Weaver said:
I have found that when it comes to power, lengths under 50 feet are hardly ever used. I would make a 100ft and a 50ft and leave the rest until I knew what I needed.
Click to expand...

Those are the lengths that I have. I always find mysel using one or the other. The only time I have used both together was for an outdoor event where the genny had to be some distance from the stage.
 
Re: 250' of 4/4 power cable, how to split it?

Bennett Prescott said:
This is my thought as well. Unless you are making stage power stringers or something, which would be an unusual use for this cable, I see no need for more than that.
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I have a small collection of ~10' cables I use quite a bit. Many are adapters (Ie 14-50 to CS) but sometimes a shorty is all you need. For actual main supply feeder, I agree 100' and 50' make sense, but if you are breaking out from a larger three phase distro into an adjoining amp rack or distro, a 50' length might be a handful if you only need to go 18". I consider a couple shorties to be convenience items along with a handful of common adapters.
 
Re: 250' of 4/4 power cable, how to split it?

Back When I Had Gear™ I had a 50' and a 100' 6/4 with CS connectors, then a 10' CS to 14-50P and a 10' CS to tails. I also had a pair of 10' CS to CS for amp rack interconnection. I don't think I ever even used both the 50' and the 100' at the same time, but it was nice to have the option... sometimes you get a weird genset location (like on the street, when you're not).
 
Re: 250' of 4/4 power cable, how to split it?

Also keep in mind the cost of the connectors. No sense in buying a bunch of connectors for several short segments when just one set of connectors for a longer segment will do.
 
Re: 250' of 4/4 power cable, how to split it?

Matt Vivlamore said:
I recently picked up a 250' spool of 4 conductor/4 gauge power cable and I'm looking for ways to section it off. I was thinking about 5 sections of 50' or 4 sections in lengths of 25', 50', 75', and 100’.

I'm also concerned about weight as well as it took 2 people to lift the spool into the truck.
Click to expand...

If you are thinking of the 25,50,75,100 route, I would have to suggest going for 3 lengths instead, consisting of the following:
1- 125'
1- 75'
1-50'

That way you get a lot of flexibility, connect the 75 & 50 together and you now have a matching pair of 125' cables. I personally think you can never have too much cable on-hand for power needs. The 100' lengths are o.k.... but I often find that if I'm going that far to grab a second circuit (over 50', which seems to be an average for finding good power around town here) having a few extra feet of flexibility (~25') can make the unusually longer runs a bit easier to deal with.

Just my opinion from what I run into here around town in D.C.
 
Re: 250' of 4/4 power cable, how to split it?

I would guess that most venues that I play are fine with a 75' piece for the stage power. Now, the bus shore power- well you can be a hero there because it always seems to need a 100' piece to make that run. Never rule out having some 10-15' pieces for those times when you are lucky enough to get your distro close to the panel. If your distro is that close than real estate on the stage may be an issue and you don't need to have a piece of 100' in a figure 8 taking up that space.

Second the cost of the connectors as well.

Third, it's not as common but in the midwest there seems to be one licensed electrician that liked to put the wrong gender on the panels and you can either carry t's to fix that or build some turn around cables. I experienced this when doing broadway tours in small civic center theatres.
 
Re: 250' of 4/4 power cable, how to split it?

Sure it is. You can use a bigger wire (think voltage drop) so long as the terminals the wire is attached to are sized to receive it.
 
Re: 250' of 4/4 power cable, how to split it?

Matt Vivlamore said:
I recently picked up a 250' spool of 4 conductor/4 gauge power cable and I'm looking for ways to section it off. I was thinking about 5 sections of 50' or 4 sections in lengths of 25', 50', 75', and 100’.

I'm also concerned about weight as well as it took 2 people to lift the spool into the truck.
Click to expand...
4 sections in lengths of 25', 50', 75', and 100’, with the 25' connector to bare leads would be my cut list.

Other than weight issues, the least connections are always the best, both from a voltage drop and potential "accidental" disconnect standpoint, as well as Marlow Wilson's legality point regarding the amount of connections.

100' of 4/4 is as heavy as I'd want to handle alone.

Art
 
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